


I got you

by w8haught



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Brotp, F/F, F/M, Friendship, WynHaught - Freeform, for god sakes is not a ship, wynaught
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:15:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23433781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/w8haught/pseuds/w8haught
Summary: (Wynaught BROTP)Wynonna Earp a troublemaker teenager in the early 2000s, is sent to summer camp against her will in her “new” city, Purgatory. There, she meets a girl, Nicole Haught, with whom she will build a great friendship. But obviously after much confusion. (Inspired by the ideas from Mel and Kat).
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, I would like to make it clear that English is not my first language so if there is an error, I apologize in advance. This fanfic was originally written in Portuguese by myself and I am translating it gradually.  
> This fanfic is not about ship, it's brotp.  
> That's all, for now, I sincerely hope you have fun reading, just as I had fun writing it.  
> The original version (Portuguese) you can find on wattpad.

"Please, mom," Wynonna held the hem of the older woman's shirt, "I don't wanna stay here." Look at them, they look like silly nerds.

"This is your punishment. Next time, think better before you bring a bottle of whiskey hidden in your backpack," her mother said.

"Calm down, little sister," Willa wrapped her arm around the girl's neck, "a month will pass quickly and you'll have fun."

“A month?!” Wynonna's eyes widened in astonishment. "You said it was just one week, mama.”

“Yeah, I lied. Now go” she kissed the girl's forehead, who was frowning, “behave yourself and make friends.”

"I'm going to kill myself", she said dramatically "bye, baby girl, wish me luck.”

Wynonna placed a kiss on her baby sister's cheek and went to where other children were. They all seemed to know each other, hugging each other, shouting excitedly. She was looking around, clutching her backpack, hoping to see some familiar face. Nothing.

Our young woman had just returned with her family to Purgatory after spending four years outside the quiet town because of the death of her father, Officer Ward Earp, a well-known name for being a police officer in his small town.

Since her father's death, Wynonna has become a young rebel. His favorite pastime was to play tricks on other people. Her behavior went from bad to worse until her mother decided to send her to Purgatory's only summer camp: Coyotes.

A tired-looking monitor said something to the megaphone, and a cluster of children rushed to him, bumping into the girl, knocking her to the floor.

"Great way to start, Earp" she said to herself, huffing, still on the floor.

"Earp?" a curious voice directed at her, "Like Ward Earp?"

"Yeap". Wynonna looked up to see who asked, then ducked it again. "He was my father."

"Wow, your father was a hero!" The girl spoke, delighted, reaching out to help the other get up. "I'm Nicole. Nicole Haught. You can call me Nic."

"Yeah, no." She got up off the floor with the help of the red-haired girl, then patted her pants to clean. "Wynonna. The last name you already know."

"Man, your father is one of the many reasons I wanted to become a cop." Nicole walked behind the brunette, who seemed to want distance.

"Do you want to be a cop?" she laughed and kept walking, not looking at the face of the girl who had helped her get up.

"Yeah, I want it!", she said, quickening her pace. "Hey, I've never seen you here before."

"Are you flirting with me?"

"No!" The redhead was looking at her in astonishment. "Just curious."

"Just kidding. And yeah, this is my first time here."

“I come every year since I was nine. I love this place, we have fishing and a contest and rock climbing and-“

"Yeah, yeah, I know, _Nicholas_ , you nerds love it." Wynonna interrupted her, walking away from the group of kids.

"Hey, where are you going?" The redhead continued to follow her.

“I don't know, I just want to get away from these assholes.”

"Nope, you can't go there." Nicole grabbed the girl's arm.

"Do you work here?" She stared at the girl's hand on her arm.

“No, but-”

"So get your paw off me." The brunette slapped the other girl's hand.

"Hey!" Nicole said angry. "I won't let you go anywhere outside campgrounds!"

"Oh, I miss the reformatory." Wynonna said, rolling her eyes.

"What are the two girls doing here? Children are not allowed in this area." A monitor appeared behind them, making them jump in a gasp.

“Hi Becky, I was just trying to take her back with the other kids.” Nicole said.

"She's lying, she brought me here. I don't even know this place, it's my first time here." Wynonna said. Nicole glared at her, mouth open at the girl's boldness.

"Hi, Nic. And you must be Wynonna Earp, aren't you?" The monitor crossed her arms.

"I see I'm quite popular around here." The Earp girl said.

"Yeah, we were warned about you and your behavior." The monitor said.

"But I didn't even do anything!" The brunette made a gesture of indignation with her hands.

“And neither will do. Nicole, since you're practically home, you keep an eye on your new friend, all right?” The monitor said.

“What?!” Both girls said together.

"You heard. Now you both get back there, right now." The monitor said, crossing her arms.

The girls walked with their heads bowed down to where the group of children were and Wynonna muttered a curse word. The man finally stopped talking and all the girls were directed to the female dormitory.

The other girls were all choosing their pairs, the vast majority already knew each other and they were putting their things in their bunks.

Wynonna and Nicole just watched, waiting for the remaining places. They spotted a empty bunk at the end of the room, looked at each other with raised eyebrows and ran as fast as they could. Nicole get there first because of her long legs but Wynonna tossed her bag away on the top bed.

"I'll be on top, I got here first." Nicole said.

"No, my stuff got here first, get out, Haught." The brunette replied.

"I come here every year and always stay in the top bed!"

"So, it's time for a little change, I think!" Wynonna said.

"You don't think anything." The redhead jumped on the top bed, throwing Wynonna's bag on the floor, who glared at her, grabbing her things and putting them on the bottom bed, irritated.

The other girls all seemed agitated. As they finished making their beds, they left the dormitory in small groups, always talking. Wynonna finished what she was doing and looked around, seeing the nearly empty room, just Nicole sitting cross-legged on the top bed, listening to a CD player.

"So where are your friends?" The brunette spokes to the other girl.

"I don't have many friends here." She answered with her eyes downcast.

"The monitors don't count." Wynonna said.

"I don't have any friends here, then." Nicole answered with a sideways smile.

Wynonna looked down. She took pity on his roommate.

"Hey, what are you listening to?" The brunette changed the subject, patting the redhead's foot.

“Britney Spears.” Nicole answered.

“Really?” Wynonna said.

“Nope. It’s Simple Plan.”

"A-ha! I knew there was an emo under that flannel. Hey, let's go outside. Or are you gonna stay here alone?" Wynonna said.

“I want to stay here now.” Nicole said.

Wynonna nodded and left the dorm, leaving the girl alone in that huge room. Deep down, she was quite curious to understand why the redhead didn't want to leave.

A little over an hour later she returned to her room, where Nicole was still in the same position. Wynonna was laughing, pointing to the door with a hot dog in hand.

"You will not believe!" She said with her mouth full of food. "Two girls named Mercedes and Beth were doing a cheerleader dance performance when a blonde girl, Karen, I think, tripped and knocked them all down! The three of them!" She laughed so hard that there was a funny noise in her laugh.

"What? Are Mercedes and Beth here? Oh, damn it." Nicole rolled her eyes.

"Didn't you hear what I said? They fell." Wynonna was recovering from laughter. "Oh, I brought you a hot dog." She said, reaching out to the girl in the bunk.

"It's bitten." The redhead stared at the snack.

"I was really hungry." Earp jumped on the top bunk bed, his body half supported and the other half hanging. Nicole rolled her eyes, setting the hot dog aside and pulling the other girl up the waistband. "What's the matter with the Gardner?" Wynonna said.

Haught hesitated a little to speak, paused the song and replied to his colleague: "They don't like me very much since last year's camp."

"Why? Just because you're annoying?" Wynonna chuckled.

"No." Nicole scowled. "Actually, I don't know why. We were friends and Karen too, the blonde girl, but last year the sisters took me out of the group for some reason."

"You must be pretty annoying then." Wynonna joked, but seeing the other girl's sad countenance, she said, "Look, don't mind them. They can't even dance."

There was no time for Nicole to answered, the room was filled with the girls who slept there, talking loudly and screaming, which made the two of them exchange an annoyed look. A monitor came into the dorm, ordering each one to her bed because it was time for bed. Some of them complained, but all went to their respective beds, and the light went out.

The room went quiet quickly, hearing only Wynonna's growl:

"This is increasingly sounding like reformatory."

This made some girls nearby, including Nicole, laugh. She turned on the bed and closed her eyes.

The next morning a shrill siren rang, announcing that it was time to wake up. Wynonna woke up scared, but refused to get up, cursing for the fright. Nicole excitedly jumped off the bunk, facing her roommate.

"Hey, Earp, good morning! Get up, let's have breakfast." Nicole said.

"Is it eleven o'clock yet?" She said hoarsely.

“Eleven? It's half past seven! Get up, we have a lot to do today.” The redhead said.

"I hope running away from here is one of them." Wynonna tucked the pillow over her face.

Nicole rolled her eyes, shrugging, and headed for the locker room to change clothes. When she returned Wynonna was still in the same position with the pillow in her face.

"Wynonna, you'll miss breakfast."

"Yeah, yeah, Nicole-bossy-Haught, I'm coming." The brunette gestured to her colleague, who went to the cafeteria impatiently.

After a few minutes Wynonna appears in the cafeteria, with the worst face ever and messy hair. She looks around the cafeteria trying to find the redhead and then sees her on a side table with a skinny boy.

"Wassup?" She tosses her tray of food on the table and sit across from them.

"Wynonna, this is Jeremy." Nicole said and the boy smiled at her "he was alone here, so I decided to sit with him."

"Yay! The table of the socially excluded." The Earp girl said wryly.

"You think you're Robin Hood, aren't you?" Nicole wrinkled her nose.

"Well, maybe I am." The brunette wrinkled her nose back.

The redhead did not return the provocation, seeing the group sitting at the table next to her. She swallowed hard. It was the Gardner sisters, giving her a hello from afar, with a mischievous smile on their faces. Nicole just looked down at her food, but rose her head seeing a blond figure pass in front of her and sit with the Gardner sisters. It was Karen, who smiled genuinely at Nicole making her blush in a dimpled smile.

At their table the three of them were talking about plans for today, trying to decide what activities they would do. Suddenly something comes toward the redhead, sticking in her hair.

"What is it?" She said scared. "Oatmeal?"

"Who..." Wynonna turned to see who would have done it but there was no one else at the back table. She was angry. "We'll find out who did it."

"Do you have any doubt who did it?" Nicole grunted e smell the thing in her hair.

"Well, at least it's vanilla." Jeremy answered and put his finger in her colleague's hair.

After they finished their meal and Nicole cleaning her up, the three decided they were going to play basketball. The redhead was excited because she loved sports. Wynonna had to be convinced. When they arrived on the court, some girls were already there, so they each joined a team, to balance it.

"You made me come to play this damn thing, Haught, now I'll make you swallow the ball! The basket-ball. Ahem, the play ball." Wynonna corrected herself, disconcerted.

"And you will swallow your words." Nicole answered the other girl's teasing.

The whistle blew making the girls run wildly across the court, which made Jeremy laugh from the bench. Wynonna threatened to throw the ball, but was cut off by Nicole, who jumped in front of her, knocking her to the floor.

"Hey, it's not fair!" Wynonna complained, still on the floor.

"I barely touched you. Come on, Earp, you look pretty familiar with the floor." The redhead teased her, passing the ball to a teammate.

"Girl, I swear to god..." Wynonna stood up on her knees. She watched the redhead's movements, waiting for the right moment to steal her ball.

Wynonna approached Nicole when she was ready to receive the pass, punched the ball, sending it flying away from everyone on the court, who complained including Nicole.

"You can't play, do you?" Haught was angry.

“ _You can’t play, do you?”_ Wynonna repeated in a high voice.

"Earp?" Nicole was pretty annoyed.

"Heath?" Wynonna said on purpose.

"Oh, real mature." The redhead jumped at Wynonna, but was held in time by the other girls.

The brunette laughed at the situation, after all she got what she wanted, which was to irritate the know-it-all-girl. The monitor accompanying the game kicked them off the court, and they both complained of something inaudible.

The two girls and Jeremy headed toward the main courtyard, where other kids were waiting before going to their respective activities, said nothing along the way, still annoyed with each other. Once there, Wynonna saw a group of boys and that interested her. She went to them, leaving the other two talking with each other.

"Hey, I know what we can do, let's go swimming!" Wynonna came back excited.

“No way, José.” Nicole replied.

"Swimming requires me to be shirtless so... Not gonna happen." Jeremy said.

"Come on, Haught." The brunette said, after rolling her eyes at the boy.

"I'll have rock climbing soon, and besides I can't swim." The last sentence coming out in a low voice.

"What?" Wynonna laughed. "Nicole Haught can't swim? Hey, guys listen up..."

"Shut up, Wynonna!" The redhead covered the other girl's mouth, who was still having fun with the new information.

"Okay, I'll swim then, see you later nerds.” Wynonna said.

Nicole and Jeremy went to get ready for the activity. A few minutes later the monitor arrived, taking some interested children to where the rock climbing would take place. This activity required a lot of time, as only one child at a time climbed the rock with the monitor's guidance.

By the end of the afternoon, everyone returned to the main camp, they were exhausted. The two friends sat on the grass, panting but excited by what had happened. Soon Wynonna appeared and approached them.

"You won't believe it, Wynonna: Nicole won the rock climbing contest." Jeremy said.

"Wow, you can't swim, but you can climb." The brunette said, sitting with them.

“Yeah, my parents are weird.” Nicole joked.

"I met some nice guys there, that fool over there is Perry." She pointed at him. "He's got a platypus name, but he's nice. Oh, and your best friend Mercedes was there with her shadow, I mean, sister. They didn't get in the lake, they didn't want to get wet. They stood on the pier sunning. Well, until the boys got together to splash water on them, of course I joined in. They got pretty pissed, you have to see their faces." Wynonna said.

"They threw water in Karen too?" Nicole chuckled.

"No one escaped. But she took the joke and teamed up with the boys. But the two sisters left complaining." Wynonna said.

The three – why not? – Friends stood there laughing and talking about the day, until the alarm for dinner. They ate and then went to their rooms.


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyy, hope y'all like this one.  
> thanks for the kudos <3

Over the next few days nothing much different happened. The three of them did some activities together, Nicole and Wynonna always arguing with each other and wanting to kill each other, but at the end of the day everything was fine.

Sometimes the brunette did something by herself. And when I say ‘herself’, I mean with the boys she met at the lake.

Saturday is approaching and as a tradition of Coyotes Camp there would be the Bonfire Party, entitled to cheesy music, marshmallow and plenty of soda.

Because of being in the woods, the children were always accompanied by monitors and some forest-rangers. The group arrived at the party place. There was a big fire pit, with benches made of logs around it. There were some camping tents where they will sleep exclusively tonight. The place was bordered by beautiful lights hanging from branches.

“Merry Christmas, everybody!” Wynonna said.

“It’s July, Wynonna.” Nicole said.

“Oh, no kiddin’” she said wryly, putting her hands on her hips.

Before that conversation could turn into a fight, Becky, the monitor came to them, handing over a picnic basket containing marshmallows, a flashlight, and a roll of toilet paper. They both looked at that last item curiously and looked at each other with disgust.

The monitor gave some instructions to the children, who were not at all interested in what she had to say. Some used the branches of the marshmallow to beat their friends, put the candy in their noses, drank soda until it came out of their nose. It was a real party meant for their age.

As the night wore on, one of the rangers volunteered to tell the children a story. Quickly, they all sat around the fire, paying attention, not wanting to miss a word the man was saying. Except for Wynonna, the rebel didn't seem to be at all afraid of what she was hearing, yawning and throwing small stones at the fire in front of her.

Jeremy was beside her, getting closer and closer. The boy was shaking with fear, but said he was cold. We are in summer. On her other side was Nicole, who was hugging her knees, listening carefully to the guard's words, beside her was Karen, followed by Beth and Mercedes.

The guard grabbed a flashlight and positioned the light below his chin, grimacing horribly. He told a story about a werewolf, and some children seemed to be almost crying with fear, because the story was set exactly where they were. Suddenly a loud crashing noise sounded from the trees in the darkness. All the kids screamed, making some of them jump, including Jeremy, who landed on Wynonna's lap. Karen clutched Nicole's arm without realizing it.

Two monitors came out of the trees, with a piece of wood and a pan, which was used to scare the children. Some children laughed with them, others cursed words that people of that age were not recommended to speak. The atmosphere was relaxed.

Nicole saw that Karen was still holding her arm and blushed, making the two of them jump away abruptly, ashamed. Mercedes whispered something in Beth's ear, looking towards Nicole. The Earp girl noticed, but said nothing, just pushed Jeremy into his place.

The story came to an end. The Gardner sisters still seemed to be talking about Nicole behind her back, and it was bothering Wynonna. The redhead, on the contrary, hadn't even noticed. She was busy enough talking to Karen.

Mercedes approached the blonde girl and pulled her arm away from Nicole, who even without understanding what was happening, smiled showing her dimples and waved to the girl who returned the wave.

The children were forced to enter their respective tents, pairing with those who shared the bunk bed.

Wynonna and Nicole went into their tent and stay silent in the dark for a while.

"The Gardners don't really seem to like your sour-milk face at all, uh?" the brunette broke the silence.

"You noticed?" Nicole turned on the flashlight, to look at her colleague. "And _you_ are sour-milk."

"Why did they take the blondy away from you?" Wynonna propped herself up on her elbows.

"I have no idea, I never did anything to them, on the contrary. I think it’s jealous, because of Karen, I don’t know, we’ve always been friends, but since last year, when she was strangely hugging me all the time, the two of them they moved away from me, forcing Karen to stay away too. But I didn't even do anything, Wynonna, I swear." You could see his eyes sparkle because of the tears that were beginning to form.

"I think I already know what their problem is. Look, Nicole, rest easy, okay? Their problem with you is all of them, it's not yours." Without realizing it, she stroked Nicole's hand, who smiled at the gesture. "Well, it's late, we better sleep."

The redhead nodded, turned off a flashlight, and lay down opposite side to Wynonna.

Around three in the morning Nicole wakes up scared by a noise outside the tent. One foot of his tent mate was on his belly.

"Wynonna, wake up," Nicole tossed her colleague's leg to the side, making her jump up.

"Nicole, I swear to God-"

"Did you hear that? Outside," the redhead interrupted.

"The only thing I heard was your chirrup chirp chirp calling me. What is it now?"

"I heard a crack outside, very close to our tent," Nicole said.

"It must be some branch breaking, genius," Wynonna rolled her eyes.

"Out of the blue?" the redhead shrugged.

"Or ... it could be the werewolf breaking someone's bones."

"Wynonna, this is not funny at all," Nicole cringed.

"Aw, ok future-officer-who-is-afraid-of-any-noise."

Nicole fumbled around the tent until she found the lantern she was looking for. She took a deep breath and slowly unzipped the tent.

"What are you doing?" Wynonna stopped her hand.

"You're right, I can't be afraid. So I'm going outside to see what it is."

"Nicole, no, I was making fun of you, don't go outside."

"Too late, now I'm going," she pushed her colleague's hand, unzipping the rest of the tent's zipper.

"Come back here, future-deputy-dipshit," the brunette threw her body on the other girl's back, trying to prevent her from leaving, causing the two of them to fall on their chest on the floor outside the tent, causing

a loud noise in the forest.

Nicole tossed Wynonna to the side, getting stand up.

"Ouch!" Wynonna shouted, pushing the other girl with her foot, who was trying to get up.

"My arm!" the redhead, who had fallen again, punched awkwardly Wynonna's biceps.

Wynonna looked at her angrily and jumped on her, giving her several clumsy slaps, while Nicole protected her face with her arms and used her legs to try to keep the crazy girl off her.

The noise caused some kids to come out of their tents, curious to see what was happening, along with the monitors who, upon seeing that scene, ran to take the girls away from each other.

With disheveled hair and a few scratches, they caught their breath as they tried to explain to the monitors what had happened, one blaming the other, of course.

Because of the fight they were separated, being forced to now share the tent with two different female monitors. Without much choice, they obeyed. They even got a verbal warning and had to shake hands with each other as a sign of a peace.

The next day was not much fun for them. As a punishment for the night before, the two were unable to join in the movie's night. Instead, they had to help clean up the cafeteria after the meal.

They hadn't exchanged a word since the fight.

Nicole approached the door, where all the other children were watching the movie, and put her ear to it, trying to hear something, setting the broom aside.

"I can't believe it! They're seeing Ice Age," she raised her hands to her head, indignant. "I really wanted to see this movie."

"They die in the end." Wynonna shrugged.

"What? Have you seen it yet?" The redhead was amazed.

"Nope. But it happened more than twenty thousand years ago, you know, sure they are dead now."

"Asshole. We could be there, if it weren't for you," Nicole said, throwing a cleaning cloth in Wynonna's direction.

"You remind me of Sid, you know?" Wynonna crossed her arms, laughing, "stupid and annoying."

"Listen, don't start now, the next step is to be kicked off of the summercamp.

"Can I go home just like that?" his eyebrows wiggled, "c'mom, Nicole, punch me in the nose."

"Wynonna, I'm going to stick that broom in your-"

"Hi, Nicky," a familiar voice interrupted.

Karen approached Nicole, leaving something in her hands, "I brought you popcorn, but don't tell anyone, it's a secret."

"Did you bring it for me too, blondie?" The brunette questioned, narrowing her eyes at her.

"No. Sorry, Earp," she shrugged and went back to the movie room.

Wynonna stopped beside Nicole, curious. The redhead was flushed, avoiding eye contact with the other, just holding the bag of popcorn that was given to her.

"Haught, give me some," Wynonna said, holding out her hand for the treat.

"F off!" Nicole slapped the other's hand lightly.


	3. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, thank you for reading, hope you enjoy this little chapter

The next day dawned rainy. A heavy rain that looked like it wouldn't stop anytime soon. This limited children to the game room throughout the day. Nicole was playing foosball with Jeremy and a few other children, while Wynonna scribbled some drawing in her notebook, leaning against the wall, listening to Nicole's CD player. Whoever saw that angry face could never imagine that it was Spice Girls what she was listening to.

Jeremy was thrilled to turn the foosball stick, causing the ball to fly out, bouncing to the other side of the room.

"I'll get it," Nicole volunteered.

Mercedes, who was sitting on a bench that was part of the path the redhead would have to take, stretched out her foot, causing her to trip and fall to her knees on the floor. Some children saw and laughed at what happened.

"Watch your step, weirdo," the Gardner sisters laughed.

Nicole looked at them, her face tingling with anger and shame, she did nothing though. She stood up, looked at Karen, who was standing beside them with a sad face, massaged her injured knees and returned to her game.

Wynonna didn't notice any of this happening.

All day stuck in that room, Mercedes and Beth would occasionally tease Nicole, who was already getting uncomfortable with the situation. They whispered among themselves, and looking towards her, as if they were plotting something against the girl.

Karen, uncomfortable with her friends not including her in the conversations, joined Wynonna, Nicole and Jeremy, who were now playing _scattergories_ , sitting on the floor.

It didn't take long for the Gardner sisters to come to them, Beth purposefully propped the sole of her shoe on Nicole's fingers.

"Ow!" she pulled her hand away, bringing her stepped finger to her mouth.

"Sorry, Haught, I didn't see your fingers there," Mercedes said wryly. "or should I say, sausages."

"Hey!" Wynonna jumped to her feet, standing in front of the two girls, "no one but me offends her!"

"It's okay, Wynonna, never mind," Nicole stood before her, preventing her from moving forward.

"Walking, you worms" the brunette gestured with her hands, making the sisters leave them alone, still laughing.

Karen apologized for her friends and followed them.

"But this Karen girl is an unassertive huh," Wynonna sat down again.

"Leave her alone, Earp," Nicole rolled her eyes.

Wynonna just sighed and they went back to the game.

After dinner, everyone returned to their dorms, a line to use the bathroom formed, as usual, but this time Nicole was not within reach of Wynonna's eyes.

When all the lights were off and no noise was heard beyond the crickets and the rain outside, young Earp heard a "psi" coming from the top bed, but ignored it.

"Wynonna," the voice whispered.

"What is it, Haught?"

"Are you awake?"

"No, idiot, I'm a sleepwalker," she said in a whisper.

"Okay, then," Nicole shrugged.

"Speak at once, wild-beast," Wynonna was impatient.

"Karen kissed me on the cheek."

"What?!" Wynonna exclaimed, raising her voice.

Nicole was unable to answer, as some "shush" were said to them. Wynonna slept curiously, while the redhead barely slept because she was feeling anxious.

Early in the day, when the “universal alarm clock” rang, miss Earp was already on her feet, unlike Nicole who was trying to muffle the sounds with her pillow.

"Wake up, Haught-potato, you have a kiss to tell me about," Wynonna watched Nicole from tiptoe.

The redhead answered something totally inaudible and remained in the same position.

Wynonna removed the pillow Nicole used to protect herself and tossed it away.

Nicole flip on her stomach.

Wynonna was already getting annoyed. She had the idea to tickle her colleague's feet, because she knew that no one could take it.

Haught shook his feet, hitting Wynonna in the face, which by that time her patience had already dropped to zero.

She climbed onto her bed, pulled the sheet off Nicole's mattress and pulled it out of the bed, causing the red-haired girl to collapse on the floor.

"Good morning," said Wynonna, with a cynical smile on her face.

The redhead didn't answer her, just cast an angry look and slowly got up from the floor.

At the cafeteria table, the three children were sitting together, as usual. Wynonna forced Nicole to tell everything that had happened the night before.

She said that when she was leaving the cafeteria Karen was waiting for her, handed her some candies and kissed her on the cheek. Nothing much, but not for the fertile minds of two pre-teens.

Little do they know, that the Gardner sisters also heard everything the redhead told them, because they were at the back table, and Nicole didn't even notice. Interestingly, Karen was not with them today, in fact nowhere in the cafeteria, which made Haught curious.

The three were leaving the cafeteria when they were stopped by the two sisters who stood with their arms crossed in front of Nicole and did not let them pass.

"You guys look like witches, you know?" Wynonna laughed provoking them.

"Shut up, Earp, we're not talking to you," Beth said.

"Technically, you haven't even said anything yet," Jeremy said, making her friend cry out in astonishment.

"Our business here is with this weirdo," Beth frowned.

"What do you want?" Nicole crossed her arms too.

"We want you to stay away from Karen. Actually, that's an order," Mercedes said.

"Order? Who do you think you are? You Seven-Little-Monsters wannabe," the brunette stopped beside Nicole, imitating her pose.

The sisters didn't seem to understand what she meant; Mercedes shook her head in confusion.

"Anyway, you're warned, Haught," the Gardner girls walked away, seeing that Karen had entered the cafeteria.

Jeremy held tight to his friends' arms, trying to stop them from going after the mean girls.

"Why don't we tell the monitors what's going on?" he asked.

"Tell adults? What are you? A pussy?" Wynonna scoffed, "oh, I forgot, you are."

"Wynonna, leave him alone. We already have to deal with these... these--" Nicole took a breath.

"Say it, Haught, say it!" the brunette was excited to hear what the other had to say.

"These... stinky," Nicole sighed.

"You can say assholes, red," Wynonna feigned disappointment, sighing and leaving the cafeteria.

The three decided that they would play together.

They played a little dodgeball with the other kids, but soon Wynonna was irritated by losing and started to throwing the ball very hard at her colleagues, which resulted in her being kicked out of the game. And refusing to leave, Nicole and Jeremy had to drag her off the field, while she cursed the world.

"What if we did something more relaxed?" Jeremy said.

"What do you suggest, Buddha?" Wynonna asked.

"Um, I don't know," he put his hand on his chin, "how about fishing?"

"It looks boring." She rolled her eyes.

"This is what we will do then." Nicole pulled Wynonna by the arm toward the lake.

Arriving at the pier, a monitor handed them simple fishing rods, and without much patience, left the three alone to handle themselves, while watching the children who were swimming across the lake. After all, what could go wrong with calm and peaceful fishing?

"Are we really going to have to catch earthworms?" Jeremy complained.

"Do you think it's disgusting?" Wynonna teased.

"It's not the case, I mean, we're going to have to put them on the hook and I don't know if I can do that." Jeremy frowned.

"It really looks disgusting." Nicole added.

"You two are sissies, this should probably be the most fun part of fishing, the rest is just sitting and being quiet," Wynonna rolled her eyes and the other two showed no reaction, avoiding eye contact. "Okay, I'll get it then, sissies."

Wynonna searched the ground for something to dig the clay, while Nicole and Jeremy sat on the steps of the pier and watched her.

In a few minutes Wynonna went to them, with some clay and some earthworms in an empty jar of yogurt she found on the floor. She played with one of the animals, who tried to dodge the curious child's touches, even if slowly.

Each child took a fishing rod and went to the end of the pier.

"Oh my God." Jeremy made a face, hesitating to pick up an earthworm from the container.

"Hurry up!" Wynonna took his hand, placing one of the animals in the palm of his hand.

The boy froze, making a disgusted sound. Nicole held one of the worms with her fingertips, analyzing that slippery being, with a twisted nose.

"Ok, ok," the boy said, "and now, what do I do? Wynonna searched the ground for something to dig the clay, while Nicole and Jeremy sat on the steps of the pier and watched her.

In a few minutes Wynonna went to them, with some clay and some earthworms in an empty jar of yogurt she found on the floor. She played with one of the animals, who tried to dodge the curious child's touches, even if slowly.

Each child took a fishing rod and went to the end of the pier.

"Oh my God." Jeremy made a face, hesitating to pick up an earthworm from the container.

"Hurry up!" Wynonna took his hand, placing one of the animals in the palm of his hand.

The boy froze, making a disgusted sound. Nicole held one of the worms with her fingertips, analyzing that slippery being, with a twisted nose.

"Ok, ok," the boy said, "and now, what do I do?”

"Now you have to hook it up, huh," Wynonna shrugged, "or do you think it will hold there just like in the cartoons?"

"I don't know if I'm prepared for this." He held out his hand to Nicole, forcing her to take the animal from him.

"You are weak, you lack hatred." Wynonna gave the boy two light pats on the head, annoying him.

"Okay then, Wynonna, do it yourself." Nicole handed the bait to the other girl, taking the pot with some worms still in it, she looked at them with a pity face.

Earp sighed, impatient with his colleagues and volunteered to do what the two were avoiding.

She tried, but a little compassion appeared in the little girl at that moment. Nicole surreptitiously turned the remaining earthworms into clay again, being careful that Wynonna did not see.

The brunette in turn, had an idea of what to do with that animal in her hand. She noticed that Jeremy was distracted by throwing some rocks into the lake, approached him slowly, pulled the boy's collar and threw a worm into his shirt.

"What the f is it?!" He was startled, feeling something cold on his back. "Ah! Take it off, take it off!"

Wynonna and Nicole laughed at the boy, who squirmed trying to make the animal fall. Unsuccessfully he had to take his shirt off, tossing it away.

The two girls laughed until they sat on the floor, catching their breath. The boy was embarrassed, covering his chest with his tiny hands. Nicole helped him retrieve his shirt and put it on again, still laughing a little while Wynonna was lying on the grass, remembering what she had just done.

The three children returned to the main hall, preparing for dinner. They were all excited, as always, especially since it was a hamburger that was being served.

Nicole had her tray walking over to the table, next to her colleagues, laughing about what happened to Jeremy.

The Gardner sisters saw her walked towards her, and when they crossed her, in a rough movement Mercedes threw the redhead's tray into the air, making her food fall on her and the soda overturn on her clothes.

"You really are clumsy, aren't you, Haught?" Mercedes said and the sisters laughed, then went to some monitors, knowing they were in danger.

Nicole said nothing, her eyes showed anger and some tears formed in. The girl looked around seeing that everyone in the cafeteria was watching her, she ran out of there embarrassed.

Wynonna tried to go behind the sisters, but Jeremy stopped her, taking her outside, behind their friend.

Nicole was sitting at the foot of a tree, covering her face with a dirty t-shirt smelling like hamburger.

She felt some movement next to her and expected the worst, thinking it was the sisters again.

To her surprise, it was Jeremy and Wynonna, the two of them sat with her, each on one side.

"Here, I brought you something to eat, since your snack is all on the cafeteria floor." Wynonna handed something crumpled wrapped in a napkin. Nicole looked up and took it from Wynonna's hand, opening the package and taking a huge bite afterwards. She was starving.

"Wynonna, it's just pickles," she spat and snorted. "I hate pickles!"

"I know," the brunette smiled, and the redhead lowered her head hiding her face again. "Uh, ok that's it, enough, Nicole."

"Leave me alone, Earp. I don't want to fight now," his voice was muffled by his hands.

"No, I mean, enough of them. Tomorrow we will give what these witches deserve," Wynonna said confidently.

"What is your plan?" the redhead's gaze turned to another girl, both curious and afraid.

Jeremy had put his arm around his friend's shoulders.

"Um...," Wynonna observed around her. "I think I have an idea."


	4. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! forgive me for the delay. to make up for it i'll be posting more than one chapter today. thanks to those who are still here.

Before the sun came up, Wynonna and Nicole were already awake. The night before they had prepared their prank.

The girls took a tree branch that they found outside, and using some materials available in their dormitory, made it as if it were a pair of eyes. They went quietly to the Gardner sisters' bunk, strategically positioned the branch, and in the midst of giggles they hid, lurking, watching from a safe distance. Wynonna, using another branch, ran a leaf over the sole of Mercedes' foot, causing her to wake up. When she woke up, she saw the “snake” in her bed, making her jump, screaming in fear and forcing her sister to get up too. The sisters' scream caused the other children to wake up and consequently some monitors hurriedly entered the dormitory.

"What's going on here?" Becky said, seeing the bustle of the place.

"A snake," Mercedes was startled. "There's a snake in my bunk!"

"The line is There's a snake in my boot, you fool." Wynonna came up from behind the bed laughing.

"It was you, Earp, I knew it! Becky, it was the two freaks over there," Mercedes said.

"We were sleeping, we have nothing to do with it," the brunette held up her hands.

"Don't lie, Pinocchio's head!" The eldest of the sisters needed to be restrained by the camp monitor.

"Hey, Mercedes," she said, "you look like a Subaru."

"What is a Subaru?" Nicole whispered to Wynonna.

"I have no idea," she whispered back.

Mercedes was looking at her with a confused expression on her face.

"That's enough, girls," prefect Becky intervened. "I don't want to know. All to bed, now."

The girls obeyed, Nicole and Wynonna felt like the most brilliant girls in the world.

When they heard the noise that signaled the time to wake up, this time the girls did not take long to get up.

The cafeteria was quickly full, and the Gardners were nowhere to be seen. They told Jeremy what happened, acting and everything, reproducing the screams and faces of the sisters.

"I bet they'll think twice now before they mess with you, Nic," the boy said, laughing.

"So I hope. But I still wanted to understand the reason," she looked down.

"It doesn't matter. They're stupid," Wynonna added.

"I hate to say it, but: you're right," Nicole said.

"What? Did I hear you right? Someone has a tape recorder. Wait, Haught, repeat," the brunette bent over the bench.

"Don't get used to it," the redhead replied.

"Well, today there will be a science workshop, we are going to build a volcano, do you want to go with me?" Jeremy was excited.

"This whole nerdy thing looks tempting, but I'm going to have to refuse," Wynonna replied.

"Is there anything better scheduled?"

"Yes. Absolutely anything else," Wynonna shrugged.

"I want to participate in the workshop with the ranger on the pier, he will talk about what it is like to work here and also the bonus of teaching us how to tie professional knots on ropes," Nicole's eyes shone.

"Why do I stay with you guys?" The brunette rolled her eyes.

"Because nobody but us can handle you," the boy joked.

"Hey!" the redhead exclaimed, making Wynonna surprised. "I can't stand it!"

She received a light punch from Wynonna, who laughed.

"I think I'm going to see the platypus boy playing basketball then. See you later, Chip and Dale." She left the table, slapping Jeremy on the ear.

Each of the children went to their respective activity. Jeremy ended up making some friends in the workshop, with similar interests and subjects about superheroes and comics.

Wynonna just watched Perry playing basketball until she got bored, as a bunch of boys together can be quite annoying at times. She then decided to get out of there, take a walk around the camp and see what her colleagues were doing.

Nicole had just left the workshop, she was excited about what she had learned.

When she was leaving the pier Karen found her, making her stutter, nervous, for some reason.

"Hi, Nic," the blonde stopped beside her, hands behind her, showing she was shy.

"Hi," she scratched the back of her neck. "Uh, look at what I did at the workshop." She held out her hand, showing the knots she had learned to make earlier.

"Wow, how amazing. You have a talent for knotting!" The blonde said.

"Yeah, this is going to be useful when I'm a police officer. And at the gym, when they teach us how to tie knots, I already know!"

"You are very smart," she smiled at the other. "Nicole?"

"Huh?" The redhead replied.

Karen approached her, taking her hand. "I have to tell you something," cleared his throat. "I--"

"Karen ?!" Mercedes' voice could be heard from a distance.

"Ah, nuts," the redhead grunted.

"Haught, get away from my friend!" The Gardner sisters approached, the older one looking furious. Beth took Karen by the arms, pulling her away from Nicole.

"I didn't do anything, we were just talking! What's your problem with me?" Nicole pushed the girl's shoulder, which made her even more angry.

"You! Stay away from Karen, you... you dyke!"

Mercedes returned Nicole's push, a little stronger than she needed to, causing the girl to tip over and fall directly into the lake. The older Gardner was startled by what she did and panicked, she ran away, looking back as she reached the sand.

"Come on, get up, quick," she told her sister and Karen, who was still held by the arms, they both saw everything from afar. "Karen, don't come close to that little lesbian anymore."

Wynonna, who was passing by on the spot, noticed the strange movement and approached the girls to understand what was happening. Karen was still taken by the other two, discreetly.

"Wynonna, she doesn't know how to swim!" The blonde turned to her.

"What?" The brunette did not understand what the girl was talking about, but looked towards the lake. Seeing that someone was struggling in the water, she went down the trail as fast as she could and when she reached the pier, she saw that it was Nicole who was drowning.

"Haught!" She screamed, starting to run even faster than before. Wynonna stopped at the edge of the pier, looking around, trying to find a solution.

She saw a rescue buoy tied to a rope and she quickly threw the object towards the girl, who sank and climbed back to the surface over and over again.

Nicole clung to the buoy and Wynonna pulled it to the edge, where she could reach it. Then she held out her hand so she could bring Nicole over to the pier.

Nicole clung to the brunette's shoulders, using what was left of her strength to climb. Wynonna quickly stripped off her flannel, placing it around her colleague, who was coughing and trembling non-stop.

"Now they've gone too far," the Earp girl said angrily, trying to see the Gardners who were already far away. But he soon changed his tone, putting an arm around Nicole's shoulders. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I could be worse," she gave a weak laugh through her coughs. "You saved me, Earp."

"That's what friends do," Wynonna returned the simple smile.

"I- Am I your friend?

"Okay, save your breath, Haught," she hesitated. "But yes, we are friends."

Both smiled at each other and were silent for a few seconds, Wynonna stroked the back of, now, her friend, trying to calm and warm her.

"Nicole? Why did they call you a lesbian? Are you one?"

"I don't know," she looked at the horizon thoughtfully, "how do you know when you're a lesbian?"

"I think the same way when you know you're not."

"Um, it makes sense." They laughed lightly.

"Wynonna, if I'm a lesbian ... Will you still be my friend?"

"Sure. It doesn't matter. That's not why I would stop being your friend. But because you're annoying," she laughed.

"Wait! I call you annoying, does it make me a 'hemophobe'?"

"Homophobic?" Nicole smiled, looking down. "Anyway, I think I'll only know when I kiss someone."

"Have you never kissed anyone?" Wynonna said, surprised.

"No," she shrugged. "Is that you?"

"Nah. Have you seen the boys? They're disgusting!"

"Wynonna, I think I'm a lesbian, though."

"Really? Why do you think that?" The brunette looked at her curiously.

The two got up slowly and started walking towards the land.

"'Because now I imagined kissing Jeremy and it made me want to puke," Nicole said.

"Okay, in that case, so I think I'm a lesbian too!" Wynonna said and the two friends laughed.

The girls returned to the camp quarters, where some children were talking.

Among them Karen and Jeremy, whose job was to reassure the worried blonde girl who was crying. When they saw their friends approaching, Karen ran towards them, hugging both of them at the same time and leaving a kiss on Nicole's cheek. Jeremy going after them.

"Take it easy, blondie, if your bosses see you doing this, I don't know what else they can do with this one," she pointed with her thumb at the redhead.

"I'm sorry for what happened, Nic. I tried to stop them, but they are two and I am one."

"It's okay, Karen. Where are they now?" Nicole scanned the faces around her.

"They're in the principal's office. I told the monitors what happened," she replied shyly.

Haught let out a smile, noticing that she was happy to see Karen finally stand beside her.

Mr. and Mrs. Gardner were called to camp urgently, which made them furious that their summer vacation - and that of the children - was interrupted.

They met with the camp manager and some other witness monitors. It was explained to them what happened, and even though they did not believe that their little angels were capable of committing such an atrocity, they were forced to remove the girls from the Coyotes summer camp and as a punishment they could no longer attend the camp.

Nicole remained under observation for the rest of the day, even though she claimed she was fine, it was the standard procedure in cases of "accidents" like these.

On the other hand, Wynonna and Jeremy never left her friend's side at any time. They stayed in the infirmary room, the three of them, and getting hot chocolate and cookies at will, they would never want to leave.

"I'm exhausted," Earp said.

"You? I was the one who drowned here," Nicole laughed.

"Being a hero is more tiring than you think, okay?" Wynonna replied.

"Ok kids, it's time to let your friend get some rest." A man with a thin mustache said, entering the infirmary room.

The two nodded and left.

"Why does it look like his top lip is wearing a skinny tie?" Wynonna whispered to her friend, who laughed restlessly as they left.

"Are you feeling well, Nicole?" The man sat next to the girl.

"Yes, I am, Uncle Nedley, just a little tired and with a sore throat."

"Oh, it's normal. After all, you drank half of the lake water. We were relieved to know that there was still a little bit left for the other kids to swim in," he joked, giving Nicole a light tickle, making her laugh.

"Well, I'll let you rest. If you need anything, I'll be in my office.

She nodded. Nedley left a kiss through the little girl's hair and left.

The man was an old friend of the Haught family and coordinator of the Coyotes camp, which is why Nicole attended the camp every summer vacation.

Without children, Nedley devoted his life to work. In addition to being a Coordinator, he was also a forest ranger at the same camp, which allowed him to exercise both functions at the same time. He took care of the children as if they were his own, especially the little girl Haught.


	5. 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I promised, here we goooo

The next few days at the camp were more peaceful, with no one - except for Wynonna - to piss off Nicole.

Karen now sometimes went out with her three friends, who promised not to split up in activities anymore, as their time together was increasingly running out.

The following Saturday there would be a competition that the children would have to perform in pairs. That kind of race in potato sacks, tug of war, etc.

The now four friends trained for the rest of the week. I mean, Wynonna and Nicole trained, since they wouldn't accept losing from anyone. With no choice, Jeremy and Karen teamed up, but unlike the other two, they were not so concerned about winning, they had more fun watching them practice, discuss and making a mess.

"Nicole, jump faster, follow me," the brunette said, as the two waged war inside a potato’s sack.

"I'm trying, it could help if you shut up," a few more jumps and the girl tripped over her own foot and fell to the floor, taking her friend along. "Aw, look what you did."

"It's your and your ant-butt’s fault," Wynonna kicked the potato sack off from her feet. "We will never win this."

"You could jut be more positive," Nicole propped herself up on her knees to get up.

"You could just shut up"

"WyNOnna, I swear to god, I-"

"Hey, girls," Jeremy intervened before it was too late, pushing them both away. "How about we get some rest and go for ice cream?"

They both nodded and followed the little boy and Karen, who occasionally had to look in the direction of the two of them to make sure they weren't fighting or something.

They arrived at what looked like an ice cream truck, joining the queue that was already formed, after all, they were not the only ones who had the idea of cooling off with ice cream in that summer heat. Young Earp quickened her pace to stand in front of her friends, pulling Jeremy beside her, purposely leaving Nicole behind with Karen. The girl just rolled her eyes when she saw her friend's attitude and stood in line next to Karen, both shyly silent.

"Hi, I'm going to want two grape popsicles," Wynonna told the monitor who worked from the place. She took it from him and turned to Jeremy.

"Oh, thank you, Wynonna, how nice of you," he wore a smile.

"What? These are for me, I'm just waiting for you to get yours," the girl pushed the candy away from her friend.

After he took his order, they both headed towards the picnic tables, under a large tree that provided a wonderful shade, while savoring the popsicles they bought at the camp store.

Nicole was still in line, with an angry expression and crossed arms, which only made Wynonna laugh.

"Ouch," the brunette said as she sat on the benches, placing her hand on her back.

"What happened?" Jeremy raised his eyebrows.

"I should’ve listened to Nicole," she still looked slightly pained.

"What she said?" Jeremy asked curiously, biting his ice cream.

"I don't know, I wasn't listening," she shrugged as she licked her candy.

"I can't believe the grape popsicle is over," the redhead arrived at the table, getting ready to sit down, when she saw her friend's two ice creams with the flavor she wanted. Her eyes went from popsicle to another and then to Wynonna, who just smiled without showing her teeth, still licking her dessert.

"You should have been faster, Haught," her laugh was sarcastic.

"Shut up," Nicole replied.

"Oh, come on, lemon is also good."

"Then eat you!"

"Want to switch?" Wynonna offered.

"Yeah!"

"Too bad," she bit the other popsicle.

"I hope you freeze what's left of your brain," Nicole said irritably, pouting. Wynonna just laughed and continued to enjoy her two popsicles at the same time, as both were melting from the heat, running down her hands.

"Do you want some help, Wynonna?" Karen laughed.

"I don't need to," she said as she desperately licked the juices that were running down her hands, avoiding running down her arms. The three laughed at their friend, with an air of 'well done'.

"When you finish taking your cat bath over here, could we go back to training?" Nicole said as she fidgeting the popsicle stick.

"Well yeah, let's go, I'm done," Wynonna stood up and threw the popsicles sticks in the trash. She was completely dirty because of the popsicles. Nicole and Jeremy looked at each other, stopped laughing and decided to not warning their friend.

Jeremy, Karen and Wynonna were sitting on the grass, the first two resting on each other's backs and young Earp was stretched out looking at the sky. They waited for Nicole, who had gone to get something they didn't know what it was about. In a few minutes, she returns with a rope in her hands.

"What are we going to do with it? Play kidnapping?" Wynonna laughed.

"Yep, we'll tie you up in the tree and leave," Nicole blinked at Jeremy.

"Touché!"

"Come on, get up, let's train tug of war."

"Oh, this is going to be good," Jeremy whispered aside to Karen.

"Haught, why do we have to pratice this? It's basically pulling a rope, whoever is stronger wins," the brunette shrugged, standing up against her will.

"It's not as simple as it looks," she handed one end of the rope to Wynonna, staying at the other end. "Okay, now get ready. Jer, you give the signal."

"Okay. One, two, three, now!" He raised one arm.

Both girls used all their strength, pulling in different directions, almost red from making so much force. They would not give up so easily, because they were two proud little girls, especially when it came to being against each other.

"Straighten your back leg, Earp - Nicole said, her voice growling.

"It is already!" She had both feet together, throwing her body back.

"No, it's not!"

"I'm going to straighten my hand right into your face, ginger spice," Wynonna grunted.

"God, I'm so sick of your attitude!" The redhead exclaimed between her teeth.

"Oops," Wynonna let go of the rope on purpose, bringing one hand to her mouth next.

Nicole fell back with her own weight, causing the brunette to laugh, while Jeremy and Karen tried to hold back their laughter when they saw them from a distance.

"They hate each other a lot, don't they?" The blonde girl commented.

"You know, I don't think so. That's just their way of saying 'I love you'," the boy added.

"Hey Nicole, why don't we compete on the lake ... swimming?" Wynonna's voice was heard from a distance.

"Do you see?" Jeremy said to Karen, laughing. "They love each other."

It was already getting dark and the group of friends was exhausted. They then decided to stop training and promised that the next day early they would return to training, since the Saturday of the competition would be in three days.

No one else in the entire camp was training for the summer camp competition, after all they just wanted to have fun, but Nicole and Wynonna took it very seriously and were deeply committed to winning, even if one of them had to cheat, I don't need to say which one .

They split up, going to their respective dormitories after dinner. They didn't get to talk much during, they were too tired even for their vocal cords to work. On the way to the bedroom, Wynonna said:

"Did you know that my older sister never let me sleep on the top bunk bed? I think that's why I wanted it so badly," she scratched the back of her head, looking at her feet.

"You can sleep in my bed today, Earp," Nicole had a smile that made her dimples evident.

"Do you swear, Haught?" Her eyes were shining. "Yeehaw!"

Wynonna screamed, running towards the bunk, using the bottom bed to push up, but was unsuccessful. She stretched her arms, trying to reach the other side of the bed, so that she could force herself to climb on top, but her feet didn’t reach to give the necessary support, she tried to lift one leg sideways, but she was not flexible enough, leaving her with both legs hanging down, unable to get up or down.

"Er, Haught?" She laughed awkwardly.

"What's up?" The redhead just watched her friend, laughing.

"Nicole, are you looking at my ass?" Her voice was drowned out by the mattress she held.

"Of course not, Wynonna, damn it."

"I thought you liked it."

"Not yours!"

"Excuse me?!" She pretended to be outraged.

"You need help?" Nicole asked.

"No!" She tried to lift her leg again, her arms were almost too weak to hold on. "Yes, damn it."

Nicole grouped her hands together, placing them under one of her friend's feet, supporting her so that she could have the impulse to climb. And so it did.

"Now I understand why you are good at climbing," she said, wiping her forehead.

The shrill bell rang again, announcing seven-thirty in the morning. Nicole, as she always woke up happily, stretching and saying good morning to the girls nearby.

Wynonna hadn't even moved, on the contrary, she was sleeping on her back and with her mouth open, where a snore came out. The redhead wished she had something to photograph that scene on and tried to wake her friend up next.

"Wynonna, wake up," she said, calmly, putting her hands on her friend's shoulders and added, speaking to herself. "It looks like I already saw that scene. Wynonna!"

"Ah! Waverly, what ?!" The brunette sat up on the bed in a leap.

"Who's Waverly?" Nicole asked curiously.

"It's my little sister," she caught her breath. "I think the two of you would get along, you are both silly."

"Okay, well, in ten years I'll call you, Earp," Nicole said.

"Nope, not like that, Haught."

"Now it's done," Nicole laughed with her arms crossed, as she walked towards the door.

"Forget what I said, stay away from my little sister!"

After having breakfast, the friends, now with Jeremy, sat for a while, talking about their families and how they missed them. The boy said that he lived with his mother, older sister and grandmother, he was not born in Purgatory, but that his family came because of his mother's job opportunity, and now he had lived in the city for two years; he said that he sees his father once a month, and that month, because he was at summer camp, he had not seen him yet.

Wynonna told of her troubled family, starting with her mother, who occasionally stayed away from her daughters, without giving any explanation, leaving them with her aunt and uncle, famous in the city for owning one of the busiest bars. Her father, as already mentioned, was an official and had died some years ago, which made her mother leave the city with her three daughters, and ended up returning because of her aunt Gus, who ended up spending most of the time with the girls than their own mother lately. Nicole, in turn, said that she was an only child and that her parents were always very busy and that she spent most of the day doing activities at school.

"When I was six, my parents let me go to a music festival in the woods with my uncle and aunt. I was entertained with some balloons and I ended up losing them. A park ranger found me there by the river. I don't know very well what happened, but I heard screams. The ranger protected me and took me to my uncles. And that’s why I want to be a police officer," Nicole said.

"Wow, Nic, what a beautiful story," Jeremy said.

"She could never have been found and turned into a female version of Tarzan, nerdy," Wynonna teased.

"You're right. I'm sorry, Nicole."

"It's okay, Jer," the redhead reassured him, turning her eyes to her friend.

"Although my father is also a police officer, I have no desire to be one. My mom and aunt say I look a lot like him. Stubborn, ready to hit anyone and with _Hair_ like a _mare_ with a Hollywood stylist," She played a few strands of hair back.

"Do you miss him?" Jeremy asked.

"Duh, of course I miss him. He was very funny and affectionate. And he always smelled like whiskey when he came to kiss me good night," her eyes were teary and to show no weakness, she soon added. "Ok, enough, let's practice, sissies."

She stood up and both friends looked at each other, shrugging, then followed.

Outside, on the same grass, Wynonna and Nicole stretched. Jeremy just watched them, since his partner was in activities with other groups and he wouldn’t train with him, and deep down he thanked the heavens for that, because he didn’t want to do any kind of physical activity or do anything that involved using his muscles so hard.

"Okay then, one of the modalities of the contest is piggyback race, and-"

"Oh wait, do we have piggies around here?" Wynonna's eyes widened.

"No, Earp, Jesus. It's just the name. It consists of a run carrying your partner on your back, got it? And well..." She put her hands on her hips. "Since I am stronger and bigger, I think I should run.

"Are you stronger than me?" The brunette rolled her eyes and scoffed. "No way, My Little Pony, clearly I'm stronger than you."

"Ha ha ha, do you want to try, Earp?" Nicole said.

"I don't think we have the need, but since you're committed to being humiliated, let's do it. Nerd!"

Jeremy came over.

"You will be the judge," the brunette said to him.

"Please don't get me into this," he put his hands together, pleading.

"It's everything under control, Jer, it's just going to be an arm wrestling round," Nicole said excitedly, already folding the sleeves of her shirt. Wynonna snapped her fingers at once and clapped a palm.

"Let’s do this!" She said.

They went to the picnic table under the trees and sat on opposite benches, while Jeremy stood in front of them.

"There's still time to give up, WyNOnna," the redhead teased, resting her elbow on the table.

"So I think you'd better do this now," she did the same, holding her friend's hand in the opposite direction.

"Are you ready, girls? I want a fair fight, do you understand? And when I say you I mean Wynonna," the boy put his hand over their hands. The brunette rolled her eyes. "No Earp this up, got it? Earp this up- because you're an Earp-" He laughed at his own joke, which didn't reach the other two, they seemed very focused.

"Hurry up, kid," Wynonna Bufou.

"Okay, sorry. One, two, three, go!" He removed his hand from theirs and watched, distressed.

The dispute seemed very fierce through the boy's eyes, but Wynonna was showing expressions that she was pushing much harder than Nicole, she was almost red. The young Earp was using all her strength that she didn't even know she had, it was already difficult to keep her arm upright, let alone put her friend's arm down. Visibly she was struggling, felt her arm tremble and her muscles start to fail, while her opponent was focused and serious. Wynonna began to feel her arm slowly fall to the wrong side, she looked at her hand and then at her opponent's face, and despair overtook her, she had to do something. She couldn't lose, not to Nicole.

The girl then quickly removed her free arm from behind her back, and with no time for the redhead to think, she slapped Nicole on the ear, who fell sideways on the bench.

"Wynonna, I said without cheating!" Jeremy ran to help his friend, who was getting up dizzy.

"Yehaw! I won," she jumped, throwing her arms in the air.

Some time later they were on the grass again, Nicole had the pose of a winner and Wynonna was visibly irritated, with her arms crossed.

"Given the last event, it was clear that I am the strongest," the redhead teased, causing the other to wrinkle her nose. "So in that case, I'm going to run."

"Phew, I didn't want to have to run, I'm glad you're going to carry me."

"Wynonna? We even did arm wrestling to see who was stronger to carry the other one!"

"Girl? We fought to know who was the strongest, and I won. And now I choose you to carry me on your back," the brunette said.

"I won! You cheated! You- You cheater!" Nicole was adorably angry.

"Gee, Haught, you don't have to offend me, okay?" Wynonna said wryly, laughing.

"Okay, girls, girls," Jeremy stood between them. "We're not going to get into this discussion again, okay? I'm already getting used to breaking up your fights." He sighed.

"Let's get down to business. It's a hundred meters of piggyback race on the way and the return is wheelbarrow style," Nicole said.

"Wheelbarrow, Nicole? When are you going to stop making up words?"

"Get up now, getting there, I'll show you how it works."

"Fiiiine," Wynonna rolled her eyes, leaning on her friend's shoulders and jumping on her back.

"I thought you were heavier," Nicole laughed.

"You are in no position to criticize me, Haught," she said, putting her arm around her friend's neck, joking, just to alert her. "Can we go, Jeremy?"

Wynonna gestured to the boy, without the friend who was carrying her seeing. He handed something into her hands and walked away, holding back laughter.

"You can!" He said.

Before Nicole could start running, Wynonna held out a stick in front of her, with string tied around it, holding a donut on the end.

"What the hell now, Wynonna?"

"For you to run after, just like the donkeys in the cartoons," the girl laughed.

"It's not funny," Nicole said.

"Yes, it's funny!"

"Okay," Nicole threw her friend's legs back so that she fell on her butt. Jeremy couldn't help laughing.

"Hey! I thought you wanted to be the piggy," the brunette laughed on the floor.

"Where did you get that donut?" The redhead crossed her arms.

"Jeremy took it out of the trash," she wiped her eyes and sighed, while her laugh subsided.

Despite their woes, the girls managed to practice what they wanted and Nicole thought it best that they did not practice until late as the day before, since they still had the next day to train, and they were well advanced in training.

After dinner, friends got together again in the games room. They picked up some poufs that are scattered around the room and sat down to play _Scattergories_.

"Okay, I scored fifty points on that," Wynonna said.

"Wynonna, diarrhea is not a color," Nicole replied.

"Oh, yes it is, a very ugly one, by the way," the brunette protested, raising her index finger.

"Leave her alone, Nic. You can cheat at will, Wynonna, you need- twenty, thirty, fifty, sixty," the boy scanned the paper. "Sixty points to reach us," said Jeremy.

"Do you want to play a round alone, Earp?" The redhead teased, laughing and the boy reached out to give her a hi-5.

"Wait and see, nerds, in the next round I'm going to beat your asses," Wynonna said dismissively.

They counted to three and indicated numbers with their fingers, ending up fourteen in total, which was equivalent to the letter N, so they started to fill the game table. A few seconds later Wynonna shouts “I'm done”, forcing friends to stop writing.

"It is not possible that you were so quick," Nicole said.

"Stop crying. Come on, you start Jer."

"Ok. Name: Newton, City, State or Country: Nevada, Animal I left blank, Color I don't think exists, Artist: N'SYNC," he smiled proudly. "Activity: I didn't have time to fill it out."

"Okay, my turn. Nedley, Norway, Nautilus, and the rest I couldn't do in time," the redhead made a sad face.

"Nautilus? Then I'm the one who makes things up. Anyway, I put it: Nicole," Wynonna looked at her friend, who rolled her eyes. "City, State or Country I didn't put because I don't know, animal: Nicole, color doesn't exist, Artist: Nirvana, and Activity: not-able-to-swim." The brunette held her laughter.

"ok, first of all you can't ask to stop if you don't fill all the blanks, second: animal, Nicole ?!" The redhead counted on her fingers. "And activity is not able to swim? You really hate me, don't you?"

"Did you like the tribute, little friend?" The brunette tilted her head to the side, towards the other.

"No, actually."

"Come on, I would put 'drown', but unfortunately the letter was N and-"

"You what?" Nicole raised her eyebrows, and stood up. "That's not funny at all, Wynonna."

The little Haught girl threw the paper and pencil on the floor, running out of the room, covering her face so that no one could see her.

"You took it hard, Wynonna." Jeremy looked concerned, shaking his head.

"You're right, can't joke about it," the brunette looked down, feeling sorry.

"Go talk to her!" He was pointing toward the door.

Wynonna agreed and ran after her friend, who turned her head slightly when she noticed that someone was following her. The redhead passed her arm over her eyes, trying to hide her tears.

"Leave me alone, Earp," she didn't stop walking.

"Wait, Nicole, are you really going to be mad over a joke?" The brunette threw her arms up.

"A joke?" Nicole turned to her, her expression a mixture of anger and sadness. "Everything for you is a joke, Wynonna. And you can't even apologize, because you're too proud for that!"

"You are overreacting-"

"No, I'm not! In almost a month we've spent together, I haven't heard you apologize once."

"Maybe because I didn't do anything that I needed to apologize for?" She shrugged.

"See? This is your problem," Nicole narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, don't be a crybaby, Haught."

"That's enough, Wynonna. I'm tired of you. I hate you," the redhead sighed and turned her back on the other, completed. "Leave me alone."

Wynonna froze like a statue.

The young girl was aware that she was not the kindest person in the world and could sometimes be kinda mean, but she did not expect to hear such things from her friend, kind of harsh words for a child, which made her thoughtful. She was staring with open mouth at her friend who was walking away.

"You are an asshole, Earp," she told herself, slamming her fist against her forehead.

Time at Camp Coyotes was running out and in two days it would be the contest she trained with Nicole so much, and now she wasn't sure if her friend would still want to be her partner at it. She felt her heart sink and let out a breath. Perhaps there was nothing else she could do now.

Then she returned to Jeremy, who was waiting for her in front of the girls' dormitory.

"Did you see her around?" Wynonna said quietly.

"She ran in, she didn't want to talk to me," he replied.

"I think I blew it up," her gaze was low.

"Any chance you apologized?" Jeremy asked, half-knowing the answer.

"I was just joking, I-"

"In that case, I hope she finds another partner for Saturday," the boy shook his head, walking away.

Wynonna felt her eyes fill with tears. Was she that bad? It was how she felt, at the moment.

She took a deep breath, trying to contain her crying and went into the bedroom, hoping to find Nicole and actually talk to her.

When Wynonna reached her bunk, she stopped in front of her friend, who was huddled facing the wall, she hesitated to call her.

"Nicole, are you sleeping?"

"Yes," Her voice was muffled. Wynonna rolled her eyes. "And I'm not talking to you."

"Okay," she lay down on her bed. "I think I deserve this."

Around eight in the morning Wynonna woke up, calmly. He stretched on the bed and sat down, looking sideways, seeing that no one in the bunks on the sides was there anymore.

"My sleep is really heavy," she said to herself. Then she got up and turned towards Nicole's bed, which was also gone.

Wynonna decided that she would act normally, hoping that Nicole had forgotten what had happened the day before. The girl then dressed up and went to the cafeteria, where Jeremy and Nicole were sitting together. As she approached after taking her food, she noticed that the boy raised his eyebrow towards her to the friend in front of him, and the two were silent when she reached the table.

"Hey, Haught-stuff, you forgot to wake me up today," she smiled, trying to break the ice.

"Yeah, or not," Nicole got up from the table, making no eye contact with Wynonna and walked out the door.

"Okay, so she's still mad at me," Wynonna sat and saw his friend's expression, he added. "And rightly so."

"Well yeah, she still hates you," Jeremy said.

"Okay, I really need to talk to her. And by talking, I mean to apologize.”

"Are you just going to apologize for her to talk to you again, or do you really feel it?"

"Jeremy," she sighed, "I _am_ sorry, man.”

"Just try not to offend her further, Earp," the boy stood up, leaving her alone to eat her meal.

Leaving the cafeteria, Wynonna scanned the space full of children, looking for one in particular. Eating alone served to make her think about what she was going to say.

Seeing Nicole on a swing alone, she took a deep breath, trying to take courage. This was her last chance to get her friend back, she couldn't screw it up again. She walked slowly over to Nicole, who ignored her presence, frowning. Wynonna sat on the swing beside her and there she was, in silence for a few minutes, until she gathered her courage.

"I was never good at making friends," she started. Nicole looked at her out of the corner of her eye.

"I always had a problem dealing with people, maybe it's a lack of confidence, I don't know. But when my father died I became a walking mess. I was very attached to him. Not that my sisters weren't, but they coped better, apparently," she paused to take a deep breath.

"At school I was the girl-whose-father-died-tragically, from a small town, you must have an idea of how it is. Willa, my older sister did not suffer from this, as her classmates were more mature, and Waverly, well, Waverly was just a little kid. I walked away even more from the other kids, and because of that they started spreading rumors about me," her voice faltered, and she sniffed.

"I don't know wich a child's fault is for his father's death, and why I deserved it all. So I moved out with my family. In the new city nobody knew me, nobody knew whose daughter I was. But I was the fresh meat from another city who sat at the back of the room. Anyway, what I mean, Nicole, is that I never really had any friends. "

The redhead now looked at her closely.

"I never felt loved, wherever I went. Over time I started to use my sense of humor and mean jokes as protection. I was used to being alone, I could barely have a conversation with anyone. Well my point is you are my best friend, Haught. I mean," she rubbed the back of her neck. "The only one, I think."

They stayed in silence. Wynonna said, "I'm sorry about yesterday. I know I can be an idiot sometimes, but I really care about- "

Before the girl could finish her sentence, Nicole was hugging her. Wynonna didn't quite understand at first, but then she wrapped her arms around her friend.

"Does that mean you don't hate me anymore?" Wynonna gave a weak laugh, still hugging her friend.

"Nah. I kind of love you, you idiot," Nicole sniffed her nose.

"Phew, because otherwise I would have to compete with Jeremy as a partner."

The two laughed and ended the hug. Wynonna lowered her eyes and scratched her elbow. "I think I maybe love you too."

Nicole pushed her friend's shoulder lightly and they laughed sheepishly.

"You have to be less asshole, Earp."

"I can try," she smiled and Nicole hugged her again.

"Okay, now your girlfriend is going to think we have an affair."

"What? I don't date anyone, gosh," Nicole wrinkled her nose.

"Well, because you don't want to. It's pretty clear that Karen likes you," she put an arm around her friend's shoulder.

"Do you think so?!" Nicole looked at her in amazement, with a smile that went from ear to ear.


End file.
